A Bush League apologist commented on the Bush league's proposal for an OAS organization to "monitor" member government's "commitment" to democracy:
The idea makes a lot of sense. People throughout the Americas are growing increasingly frustrated with democratically elected leaders who are unable to address their concerns....
(Source: Marcela Sanchez Washington Post The Midas Curse of the Bush Administration [emphasis added.]
How sad that her column came out right after this bit of news:
Poll: Bush Job Approval Dips to New Low
By WILL LESTER
The Associated Press
Friday, June 10, 2005; 10:42 PM
WASHINGTON -- When it comes to public approval, President Bush and Congress are playing "how low can you go." Bush's approval mark is 43 percent, while Congress checks in at 31 percent, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found. Both are the lowest levels yet for the survey, started in December 2003.
Perhaps if Condoleeza Rice proposed that the "democracy monitoring committee" would start by investigating the Bush Administration's commitment to democracy, she'd get a less cynical response...
Ms. Sanchez's article is either delusional or very tongue-in-cheek.
Nobody could seriously write such naive platitudes as, say:
Rice offered what seemed a modest but forward-thinking proposal to create a more formal avenue for civil society groups... to participate in the OAS mission of defending democracy in the hemisphere.
...
Yet by the time Bush officials arrived to sell the initiative to the hemisphere's foreign ministers gathered here, many delegates seemed determined to weaken it or destroy it outright. Ever skeptical of Washington's motivations, they believed the proposal was cynical cover for more intervention in the region.
That sentiment was reinforced by the very meeting that was to symbolize the initiative's promise. Last week, President Bush met with Maria Corina Machado, the founder of Sumate, who were instrumental in last year's recall vote against President Hugo Chavez.
(Source: The Midas Curse of the Bush Administration [emphasis added.])
Just because the initiative's kick-off meeting was with President Hugo Chavez's political enemies, those silly South Americans thought Our Fearless Leader's initiative was
aimed at Mr. Chavez. Ms. Sanchez's article closed with this piece of dry wit:
Some of the delegates said that they believe U.S. officials behind some of the administration's hard-line policies are on their way out the door. That would be a welcome development for a Bush administration that needs to recognize and remedy its extreme choices of the past.
(Source: The Midas Curse of the Bush Administration [emphasis added.])
Assuming this wasn't intended sarcastically, I have two words for her: JOHN BOLTON.
(Oh, and shouldn't she have titled her article The INVERSE Midas Curse of the Bush Administration? After all, everything Midas touched turned to gold, whereas Ms. Sanchez's article notes everything W and his Bush League minions touch turns to lead:
The Bush administration is suffering from a Midas curse of sorts in its interaction with the Americas. Everything it touches -- everything Bush officials consider valuable and essential -- becomes suspect or is rejected by most governments in the hemisphere.
